Mike Hasten: Was Jindal absent during session?

State lawmakers during the just ­closed legislation session - and especially at the end - talked about how they showed their inde­pendence from the Gov. Bobby Jindal in assembling a budget of their own.

He was called a "no-show" and remarks were made about how when he "parked" his tax reform package on the first day of the session, he also parked his involve­ment in the whole affair. "Lame duck" was a term tossed around.

For most, this was a good thing. In past years, governors - espe­cially Jindal - have been criticized for being just short of a dictator.

But a few were almost critical of the governor for "not giving us any guidance."

A faithful reader and political observer in Monroe takes another perspective on the governor's lack of involvement in this year's ses­sion.

"Why interject yourself in a process which is yielding the re­sults you envi­sioned all along?" asks Buddy Quinn.

"Let us count the ways in which he participated: 1. He gutted higher education, then allowed the lawmakers to get giddy over adding back $20 million.

2. He got his vouchers by di­verting general funds from pro­grams for the poor. 3. He beat back the support for the Affordable Healthcare Act.

4. He created the sales tax switcheroo straw-man about which his minions could rail.

5. He eviscerated the public hospital system in exchange for what? Fifty pages missing in the contract! (for privatizing the LSU hospitals in Shreveport and Mon­roe) "Anyone who thinks Jindal is disappointed with the result is delu­sional," Quinn concludes.

Quinn has a good point. After the House and Senate reached a budget compromise, Jindal was all smiles.

So much so that he called a press conference to announce the deci­sion, stealing the thunder from those who hammered it out.

The conference committee went to the governor to get his blessing on some related budget reform bills that the House delegates in­sisted were critical to getting the support of the full House. If Jindal was going to veto them, it would throw a kink in the plan.

It's doubtful the delegates went to his office with the intention that he would be the one to say what a good plan they had developed.

Whether it was true independ­ence or a one-shot wonder will be seen in the next two years' ses­sions, after which lawmakers will have a new governor to either con­tend with or work with.